


Of grubs and lots of sand

by Lemu



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Adoption, Desert, F/M, Grubs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-11-18
Updated: 2012-04-28
Packaged: 2017-10-26 06:19:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/279677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lemu/pseuds/Lemu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An idea for a desert AU I had. Oops I continued it.</p><p>It is not a continuous story, but instead it is a series of drabbles and scenes that sounded cool in my head.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"You're late." Terezi said the moment Karkat appeared in the doorway. "I've already told the innkeeper you're staying with me. But you're paying for the next night."

Karkat lurched into the room and dumped his pack on the floor with a groan. "I got in a bit of a spot with some human nomads." He grumbled. "They chased me for about half a mile."

Terezi didn't seem to be paying much attention to his problems. "...Karkat?" She asked hesitantly.

Karkat knew instantly that something was up. Come to think of it, she was holding a wicker basket that he didn't recognize. "Oh fuck, don't tell me you bought something. We're short enough on money as it is-"

"No, it's not that, Karkat, it's-" She trailed off, then started over. "On the way here, I came across what was left of a fight or something. Some trolls were killed, so I figured they wouldn't be needing their supplies anymore..."

"Find any good loot?" Karkat asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"Whoever killed them already took anything useful... except for..." She fiddled with the basket, one designed to be carried over the shoulder and with a lid over the top. "...this." She finished, carefully handing the basket to Karkat.

Karkat gave her a skeptical look, then took the basket from her, lifted the lid and peeked inside. He stared blankly for a moment, then gently set the basket down on the bed and gave Terezi a very grave look. "You brought back grubs." he said flatly. "Why. The fuck. Would you take grubs?"

Terezi put the basket back in her lab, taking care not to wake the sleeping orphans. "I couldn't leave them to die." She said bluntly.

Karkat paced back in forth in the room, his aggrevation growing. "Grubs die by the hundreds every day, Terezi! It's just life! And you know as well as I do that we can't afford to care for a brood of grubs. We barely scrape by ourselves!"

Terezi clearly understood his point, but when she looked back down at the grubs, she simply knew she couldn't abandon them. "There's only three of them." she argued, though she was aware that it was a rather weak argument.

Karkat sighed. "Terezi." he said in a very serious tone. "Get rid of them before you get too attatched to them. The longer this lasts, the harder it will be."

Terezi knew there was no arguing. He was right. "Should I just leave them where I found them...?" She asked, subconsciously gripping the basket tighter to her.

"If being kind to them is your main concern, it would be better to kill them now rather than leave them for dead in the desert."

Terezi couldn't help but wince at the suggestion. She lowered her head, resting her forehead on the rim of the basket. "I'm sorry, little ones..." she whispered. She put the strap over her shoulder and got up. "I'll do it." she said without emotion in her voice.

"Good." Karkat said. "Trust me, it's better this way." As she left the room, he called out, "I'll take care of dinner tonight!"

\---

Terezi only rode out into the desert for a few minutes. She couldn't afford to go much further, since the sun would rise in a few hours. She dismounted her knucklebeast, pausing to give the creature a pat on the shoulder. "Good boy." she muttered, trying not to dwell on her current task. She took the basket off her shoulder and went behind a rock to stash it away. Gently, she set it down facing a direction where the sun would not kill them. Like it even, mattered. They were doomed anyway.

She quickly forced herself to turn around and leave before she had second thoughts about doing this, but a sound made her stop dead in her tracks. The grubs had woken up, and were now crying loudly. She tried to shake off her doubts, tried to ignore the cries, but she couldn't do it. They were living things, young of her own specie and without her, they were going to die. Cursing inwardly, she turned around and went back to the basket, opening it and reaching in to touch and stroke the grubs inside. "Shoooosh, shoosh..." She crooned, lifting a squirming grub out and cradling it close to her. The grub made a series of tiny grunts and nestled closer to her, desperate for the attention.

She didn't care about the inevitable scolding she was going to recieve from her matesprit upon her return. But it was too late for his warnings. Her heart was already attatched to the orphaned grubs. She gently scooped up the other two grubs and held them in her lap, pausing to admire each one individually. There was a amber-blooded grub with horns that pointed down and curled back up, one who's color was like tarnished gold, with sleek, backward, facing horns and one lime green grub with tiny horns that looked somewhat like Karkat's.

The three of them looked up at her expectantly and cried out. "You poor babies must be so thirsty!" She said. She picked the grubs up and one by one, hid them under her shirt. "Hush, now" she whispered to them. "We're going to have to be sneaky when we get back. And then I'll get you some water, okay?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REMEMBER HOW I SAID I WASN'T GONNA CONTINUE THIS?
> 
> OOPS

Both Terezi and Karkat knew at a glance that this was an inn run by, and for, humans. But to keep walking, even to the other side of the town, would be too much to ask of them. 

"We're on water rations, so one glass per person." The innkeeper announced the moment the weary trolls walked in. Clearly he had been explaining it to customers all night.

"Two- no, three then." Karkat heaved, pulling out a bar stool and collapsing upon it in a magnificent display of melodrama worthy of a three-sweep old. 

The human innkeeper eyed them suspiciously. "Three?" He asked. "Flunked preschool? There's two of you."

Terezi sighed and placed the grub's basket on the countertop, lifting the lid a bit to show its contents. "Please excuse his manners," she said, giving Karkat a narrow side glare. "We need three glasses of water."

The innkeeper gave an incredulous look. "I'm not going to count your... larvae, not when thirsty women and children are coming through these doors." 

Karkat's head jerked off of the countertop with a snarl. "Oh, so OUR children don't count?" He asked, fangs bared. "Why, you specieist little-"

"So help me, I will toss both of you out of here with no drink, so you take what I give you and be grateful I even let you trolls in here!" 

The trolls recoiled, still deeply insulted, but unwilling to test the human any further. "...How much is your cheapest room?" Terezi asked through clenched teeth, holding her basket of sleeping grubs close to her body.

"Three bronze." The man replied, resuming his work cleaning dishes. "You'll be sharing it with two other humans, so you better not make any trouble."

Terezi slid three bronze coins, depleting half of their meager funds, across the counter to him. The innkeeper dropped them into a jar, then passed the trolls two not-very-big glasses of water. 

Looking the innkeeper right in the eyes, Terezi sat down, set the basket on top of the counter and slowly tipped it on its side. "Wake up, little ones," She crooned. "I've got you some water." 

The bleary-eyed wrigglers peeped out of the basket, sniffing in the glasses's direction. Jantar, the amber grub, was the first to stick her face into the tipped glass and take a well-needed drink. The other two grubs, Pataki and Latuna, grunted at their sister in annoyance, nudging her out of the way to try and get to the life-giving elixer.

"Now, now, not all at once!" Terezi chirped, pulling her grubs back. She reached over and helped herself to an empty bowl on the counter, pouring the water into it and presenting it to the grubs, who all jumped right into it and lapped away. 

"You're not saving any for yourself...?" Karkat asked her.

Terezi shrugged. "They need it more than I do." She was not pretending that she wasn't parched, but she was not going to enjoy a single drop knowing that her grubs were still thirsty.

Karkat sighed, gazing down at his glass of water, before sliding it over to his matesprit. "Then you deserve this more than I do."


End file.
